Written Answers Tuesday 9 October 2007

Scottish Executive

Emergency Services

Mary Scanlon (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to merge (a) police forces and (b) fire services.

Kenny MacAskill: The Government currently has no plans to merge police forces or fire and rescue services.

Fuel

Bill Wilson (West of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive how many petrol stations supply biofuel.

Stewart Stevenson: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-4549 on 8 October 2007. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search .

Higher Education

Richard Baker (North East Scotland) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many students were in higher education in (a) 2004-05, (b) 2005-06 and (c) 2006-07.

Fiona Hyslop: The number of students in higher education at Scottish institutions, excluding the Open University in Scotland, were (a) 276,705 in 2004-05 and (b) 285,180 in 2005-06. The figures for (c) 2006-07 are not yet available.

Housing

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when the request from Aberdeen City Council regarding stock transfer will be determined.

Stewart Maxwell: We have received preliminary details from Aberdeen City Council for regeneration proposals in the city, including the transfer of some of its housing stock. I have informed the council that, until we have completed the forthcoming consultation on social housing and the spending review, it would not be sensible for the Scottish Government to consider any application for transfer that requires funding beyond the available treasury debt support.

NHS Services

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what public consultation will be undertaken by the independent scrutiny panel set up to scrutinise the new proposals for review of services brought forward by NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what timescale has been allocated for public consultation by the independent scrutiny panel set up to scrutinise the new proposals for review of services brought forward by NHS Ayrshire and Arran.

Nicola Sturgeon: As was clearly set out in the Independent Scrutiny Panel (ISP) terms of reference, the panel will need to take account of local circumstances and the views of individuals and communities affected by effectively engaging with local people, in liaison with the Scottish Health Council. It is for the panel to determine how they will carry out this task in light of its terms of reference. The ISP has not been charged with undertaking formal public consultation.

  As I pointed out in my statement to Parliament on this matter on 6 June 2007, it is important to recognise that the original review of services proposals were subject to extensive formal public consultation. That consultation highlighted the overwhelming strength of public opinion against the proposals to close the accident and emergency department at Ayr Hospital. In reversing these proposals - which were endorsed by the former Executive - the Government has charged the ISP with carefully considering NHS Ayrshire and Arran's plans for retaining accident and emergency services at Ayr Hospital together with the supporting evidence; and to provide a commentary on these.When I made my statement to Parliament on 6 June, I also recognised that we must be careful not to set back or slow down the board’s service plans any more than is absolutely necessary to fulfil the commitment on accident and emergency services. That is why we have agreed with the board that their proposals - having been scrutinised and evaluated by the ISP - should be with me for a final decision by the turn of the year.This timescale will achieve the necessary balance between effective public engagement and independent scrutiny, and the need to move forward swiftly to minimise uncertainty and the impact on service development.

NHS Services

Cathy Jamieson (Carrick, Cumnock and Doon Valley) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the public consultation undertaken by the independent scrutiny panel into the new proposals for review of services brought forward by NHS Ayrshire and Arran will be carried out in accordance with the guidance contained in HM Treasury’s Green Book.

Nicola Sturgeon: I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-5008, on 9 October 2007, and confirm that I am content that the adopted process is consistent with the spirit of the HM Treasury Green Book guidance, which recognises that the level of detail in any process undertaken should be commensurate with the scale of the proposal in hand.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at:http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/webapp/wa.search.

Police

Christine Grahame (South of Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what additional resources have been allocated to police forces to tackle internet fraud in each year since 1999, broken down by force, and what information it has on the additional resources similarly allocated to trading standards offices, broken down by local authority.

Kenny MacAskill: It is for chief constables to decide how to allocate resources to meet policing priorities in their force areas, including tackling internet fraud. Police forces are funded by a combination of police grant from the Scottish Government and from local authorities. As a result it is not possible to identify the overall police resources allocated to tackling internet fraud.

  However, the Scottish Crime and Drug Enforcement Agency (SCDEA) has an E-crime unit, which provides specialist support to the Scottish police service for those areas of serious organised criminality involving or facilitated by computer or information technology. The costs of this are included within the budget of the SCDEA, although the costs of tackling internet fraud are not separately identifiable in the agency’s budget.The Scottish Government provides general financial support for Scotland’s local authorities’ net revenue expenditure on core services, including trading standards. This funding is, in the main, provided by means of a block grant and it is not possible to identify the level of funding for individual services. It is the responsibility of each individual local authority to allocate its total resources, including the locally collected council tax, on the basis of local needs and priorities.In 2007-08 the core local government funding provided by the Scottish Government will amount to over £8.7 billion.

Regional Selective Assistance

Alex Neil (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will list those companies that have had all or part of their regional selective assistance awards clawed back, also showing how much was clawed back in each case and what percentage this represents of amounts (a) paid out and (b) awarded.

Mr Jim Mather: The Scottish Executive has, since April 2002, routinely published information on regional selective assistance (RSA) recoveries, payments and accepted offers. Full details can be found on the RSA website at:  www.scottishbusinessgrants.gov.uk .

Scottish Government Expenditure

Johann Lamont (Glasgow Pollok) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive which areas of Executive publicity will be affected by the budget cut of £2 million recently announced by the Deputy First Minister.

John Swinney: The Government plans to realise a £2 million saving arising from efficiencies in the system of designing, printing, publishing and distributing Government publications.

Sport

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with Aberdeen City Council since 8 August 2007 regarding the development of a 50-metre swimming pool in Aberdeen.

Stewart Maxwell: Whilst the Scottish Government have had no further discussions with Aberdeen City Council since 8 August 2007 regarding the development of a 50-metre pool in Aberdeen, I have continued to encourage Aberdeen City Council to work with sportscotland to develop a project that is more cost effective and deliverable.